We all buy clothes, but no two people shop the same. It can be a social experience, and a deeply personal one; at times, it can be impulsive and entertaining, at others, purpose-driven, a chore. Where do you shop? When do you shop? How do you decide what you need, how much to spend and what's "you"? These are some of the questions we're putting to prominent figures in our column "How I Shop."
Devon Lee Carlson may have just made the rounds at New York Fashion Week, dressed by city's the coolest brands (Maryam Nassir Zadeh, Sandy Liang, Miaou), but the Thousand Oaks native is a California girl at her core.
Her profession, like that of many Angelenos, defies categorization. She's the co-founder and designer of popular phone case brand Wildflower, alongside her sister, Sydney. She's a model and muse for brands like Réalisation Par and Feel Jeans. She's an Instagram influencer and occasional YouTuber, creating content for the likes of Dior Beauty, Versace, Prada, Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs. (The latter recently tapped her to design her very own capsule collection in celebration of her 27th birthday.) She also debuted a line of hats with Aussie brand Lack of Color this summer, and worked with her sister on a collaboration with Frankie's Bikinis. Oh, and she styled Olivia Rodrigo's "Good 4 U" music video. NBD.
In a city full of beautiful girls who know how to pose in a gifted outfit, Carlson stands out for an innate and unique sense of style that reflects a genuine obsession with fashion, and a gracious, smiley demeanor that makes you want to watch everything she does. I discovered her during a bored, mid-quarantine fixation with YouTube, and her mood-lifting videos felt like hanging out with a stylish, funny best friend. She's surprisingly normal, whether she's making matcha in a bathrobe, gallivanting around St. Barth's with Bella Hadid or going on tour with her rockstar boyfriend. She seems genuinely excited by and grateful for every PR package that comes in the mail, and always has a positive attitude (but not in, like, an annoying way).
"I've always been into making a full look. I always wanted to do my own hair and makeup and pick out my own clothes. And my mom loved shopping, too. I want to say we loved fashion, but we just loved all sorts of clothes. I didn't really dive into designers and stuff probably until I was in high school.
"Me and my mom loved shopping together, looking for deals and finding cute things. Old Navy, we loved; the sale rack at Limited Too. It's funny, my sister hated shopping — she's a big online shopper, I've always been in-store.
"Once I got my own job, when I turned 16, that's when I started thrifting, because it was really all I could afford with my paychecks, gas and budgeting and everything. I could get the most bang for my buck at these thrift stores or Urban Outfitters' sales section. I just fell in love with thrifting. It was, like, vintage Charlotte Russe that I was buying; it wasn't anything that was worth more than probably $15, $20, but at those stores it was like $2. I could get a lot more stuff, and I loved experimenting with my style and wearing fun things. I would drive all around — I still lived in Thousand Oaks, which is the suburbs outside of L.A. — to Ventura or the Valley and go to any and every thrift store that I could find.
"I love Versace — vintage Versace and Versus by Versace. There's a vintage brand called Morgan, they have really good stuff. There's this girl on Instagram, Real Life as Liv, and she's so educated on designers from the nineties and early 2000s. She just started a TikTok, and she always [shows] brands that were worn on 'Sex and the City' and whatever. I take notes on her videos and I search a lot of the keywords or the designers. There's this brand called Joey and T, and she describes them as kind of reinventing or making the miniskirt of the early 2000s. I was determined to own a Joey and T miniskirt because it's the one Paris Hilton used to wear.
"When I was in middle school, I was beyond obsessed with 'The Simple Life.' I watched 'Hannah Montana' and 'The Simple Life' — that's all I consumed. I feel like right now, I'm just collecting my dream wardrobe that I wanted when I was in middle school and in high school. I love the search. It's part of the fun, going on eBay finding the stuff.
"I get a lot of inspiration from movies. I'm so inspired by, obviously 'Clueless' and '13 Going On 30' and even 'Gia.' I love Angelina Jolie in that movie. I love 'Charlie's Angels,' 'The Sweetest Thing' and all those romcoms. 'Legally Blonde,' literally I watched too many times growing up, to where I treat [my dog] Martin like he's my Bruiser. I love how she's at Harvard and she's still being herself and doesn't conform to being boring to fit in. Those characters have always resonated with me, and I've been so inspired by them.
"The Marc Jacobs collab was like... I feel like it still hasn't set in. The tag is really what got me, just seeing my name next to Marc Jacobs was the weirdest, most exciting, surreal moment. The first designer thing I ever bought was Marc Jacobs — it was a Marc by Marc Jacobs wallet, and it had a zipper with a hand strap, and I used to wear it with the hand strap because I wanted everyone to see the Marc Jacobs logo on it — so really big, full circle.
"[The Marc Jacobs team] told me after, 'You're a perfectionist.' I was like, 'Okay, the hoodies' sleeves need to be half an inch longer, we need to crop this...' This T-shirt had three rounds of revisions, and it's literally just a T-shirt. There were so many little details that I was very particular about, but that's just the kind of person I am.
"It definitely got me really excited, getting to do that and seeing how much fun I had and how I got to be creative. I loved the whole process. I was like, 'Oh, maybe I'll dabble in this in the future.' We'll see.
View this post on Instagram"I just went through my clothes, and because I just turned 27 and had all of these old belts, my friend goes, 'You're 27 now, I think it's time to retire the pleather.' The pleather pants are still cute.
"I just auctioned off some of my old shirts on the streaming show that I do on the shopping app Popshop Live. I really like to only keep stuff that's really nice quality or a really good fit — that I know, no matter if I feel gross, I can put it on, whether it's pair of jeans or a dress, and just feel good. I like buying some secondhand trendy stuff, but I'll usually wear it a couple of times and then give it to my sister or my friend, let them wear it a couple of times, then they can give it to their sister. I like seeing clothes live a long way.
"I feel like so many people say this, but I'm dressed based on my mood, and I need to be comfortable in what I'm wearing, because if I'm uncomfortable, I literally cannot function. I'm also very comfortable showing my skin. It changes every day. Right now, I have sparkly nails on and my Marc Jacobs set on, but I still feel like if someone's like, 'I need you to go somewhere in five minutes,' I don't need to change. I can still like show up and feel comfortable and cute.
View this post on Instagram"I always dress for the environment. If I'm going to the office, I'm wearing crazy pants and a T-shirt and sneakers, which I feel is still pretty casual, but I'm not in a crop top or a miniskirt or anything like that. If I'm going out to dinner, if I'm with the girls, I usually will wear my tallest shoes and smallest skirt and a T-shirt and big jacket or something. And if I'm going on a date, I'll wear a dress and maybe a cute heel and I'll do my hair. When I go to CVS, I'll literally have no makeup, mismatched sweats, flip-flops and unbrushed hair.
"I never really feel like I need to impress. There have also been plenty of times where I'll be in my yoga clothes and then end up running errands and shopping and maybe having an encounter with someone who follows me or watches my YouTube videos — I'm just standing in line, like, 'I hate that I'm in yoga pants and a hoodie right now and you're like, 'You're my style icon,' but whatever.' If anyone watches my vlogs, they know that I'm mostly in a robe half the week.
"I hope to have more opportunities to style in the future. I have so much on my plate; if I do, I want to make sure that I can give it the attention that I think those jobs deserve. [The 'Good 4 U' video] took so much time. I had literally three days, I think, but it took 24 hours of every single day getting everything put together. It was fun, being on a set and not sitting in the makeup chair or having to be in front of the camera.
View this post on Instagram"I always loved getting people ready and making them feel good.Every prom, my mom used to yell at me because I wanted to do everyone's hair and makeup, and I would leave 15 minutes for myself to get ready. I like doing that kind of stuff, helping people feel confident and finding a style that they feel good in. I enable [my friends always borrowing my clothes] because I buy stuff that I know won't fit me. I'm like, 'Well, I bought this for you because you needed it.'
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
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